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cadence
cadence logo

cadence

Active·★ 9.5k·Apache-2.0·Updated 2026-10-27
★ Essential★ Trending

Cadence is an open-source platform, since 2017, for building and running scalable, fault-tolerant, long-running workflows. This repository holds the core orchestration engine and its tools, including the CLI and schema management. A Cadence deployment consists of several backend services, a database (Cassandra, MySQL or PostgreSQL) and optionally Kafka and Elasticsearch, plus workers that contain your workflow implementation.

You trigger workflows with SDKs or the CLI. Official client libraries exist for Go and Java, with unofficial Python and Ruby SDKs from the community, and iWF is offered as a DSL framework on top. Getting started is `docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml up`, running the Go or Java sample recipes and opening the web UI on port 8088 to inspect workflow histories and traces. The CLI installs with Homebrew or a Docker image. The code is Apache-licensed.

This write-up is based on the project's README and public repository data. We have not hand-tested the tool. Data as of 2026-10-24.

License
Apache-2.0
Latest release
v1.4.2 · 2026-10-02
Last commit
2026-10-23
Contributors
190
Forks
927
Open issues and PRs
209
First published
2017-02-21

Source: GitHub, npm and PyPI public APIs.

#Workflow Engine#Fault Tolerance#Distributed Systems#Orchestration#Scalability
$ Install
$ docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml up
↗ Visit site★ GitHub
01

Features

01Scalable and Fault-Tolerant Workflow Execution
02Core Workflow Orchestration Engine
03Comprehensive Command Line Interface (CLI)
04Multi-language Client SDKs (Go, Java, Python, Ruby)
05Web-based User Interface for Workflow Monitoring
02

Why choose it

+Mature engine for long-running, fault-tolerant workflows, open source since 2017 and still updated daily.
+Official Go and Java SDKs, plus community SDKs for Python and Ruby and the iWF DSL framework.
+Local quick start with Docker Compose, a web UI for workflow histories and traces, and a CLI for operating domains and clusters.
+Supports Cassandra, MySQL or PostgreSQL as the backing store.
03

Trade-offs

!Running it means operating several services plus a database, and optionally Kafka and Elasticsearch.
!Only Go and Java have official SDKs; Python and Ruby clients are unofficial community projects.
!It is a general workflow engine, not an AI-specific tool, so agent features must be built on top.
04

Maintenance check

ActiveChecked: 2026-10-24
Last commit
2026-10-23
Commits, last 90 days
100+
Releases, last 90 days
3
Latest release
v1.4.3-prerelease06 (2026-10-16)
Open issues
209
Recent issues with at least one comment
3/7
Commits per week, last 12 weeks
Commits per week, last 12 weeks: 22, 14, 21, 18, 23, 12, 9, 18, 14, 19, 15, 13

Oldest week on the left; the latest four weeks are orange. Source: GitHub commit activity.

Status rule: archived on GitHub = Archived; last commit within 90 days = Active; 91 to 365 days = Slowing; older = Stale. All figures come from the GitHub API on the date shown.

Most discussed open issues

  • #7830 Guided Cadence install mission in KubeStellar Console14 comments · 2026-03-18
  • #3914 Proposal: Reset to a reset point with pending ChildWorkflows13 comments · 2021-01-22
  • #348 Feature request: Provide http interface for activity workers10 comments · 2017-09-12
  • #7195 Add domain created_time value to DescribeDomainResponse8 comments · 2025-08-20
  • #4520 OAuth public/private key concerns8 comments · 2021-09-29

Issue titles are quoted from GitHub. Open the link to check whether a problem still applies to the version you use.

05

Compatibility

Cassandra
Native Support
Verified via docs
MySQL
Native Support
Verified via docs
PostgreSQL
Native Support
Verified via docs
Kafka
Optional Integration
Verified via docs
Elasticsearch
Optional Integration
Verified via docs
Go SDK
Official SDK
Verified via docs
06

Quick start

1
$ docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml up
07

Use cases

↳Building highly scalable and fault-tolerant long-running business processes.
↳Orchestrating complex microservices interactions in a reliable manner.
↳Ensuring stateful execution and recovery for distributed applications.
08

Alternatives

⚡Top VS:
VStemporal★24.0k→VSconductor★32.4k→VSconductor★12.8k→VSmoira★128→
temporal logo
temporal★ 24.0k
Temporal is a durable execution platform: it runs workflows reliably, automatically handling intermittent failures and retrying failed operations, so long-running applications and AI agents survive crashes and restarts.
VSCompare→
conductor logo
conductor★ 32.4k
Conductor is an open-source, event-driven durable execution platform for microservices, AI agents and adaptive workflow graphs, with native LLM tasks, MCP tool calling and human approvals.
VSCompare→
conductor logo
conductor★ 12.8k
Conductor is a microservices orchestration engine.
VSCompare→
moira logo
moira★ 128
Agent Workflow Engine for AI agents over MCP — per-step directives, completion conditions, and JSON-Schema validation. Self-hostable (Apache-2.0).
VSCompare→
cronstable logo
cronstable★ 139
A modern, container-friendly, optionally-distributed, fault-tolerant, highly available, leader-electing, highly configurable, precompiled, multi-architecture, portable, security-hardened, production-ready cron replacement
VSCompare→
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sdk-go★ 996
Temporal Go SDK
VSCompare→
dbos-transact-golang logo
dbos-transact-golang★ 862
Lightweight Durable Golang Workflows
VSCompare→
FlashLearn logo
FlashLearn★ 608
Integrate LLM in any pipeline - fit/predict pattern, JSON driven flows, and built in concurency support.
VSCompare→
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On this page
01Features02Why choose it03Trade-offs04Maintenance check05Compatibility06Quick start07Use cases08Alternatives
cadence-workflow /
cadence
↗

Fault-tolerant workflow orchestration engine, open source since 2017

9.5k927Apache-2.0
Last commit1d ago
StatusActive
CategoryWorkflow Automation
Contributors190
Latest releasev1.4.2
Links
Documentation↗Discussion↗Issues↗Releases↗
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